A Very Addams Courtship
by Caz251
Summary: Owen and Wednesday's courtship is not going to be a long one, she has stated this, but Owen didn't realise it would be over with in about a month. Set around the same time as Of Strange Men and Kitty Cats.
1. Chapter 1

Owen looked around the graveyard, studying it, trying to find the best place. Never before would he have imagined that he would be scoping out graveyards for the perfect place for a date, for an alien hiding place sure, but not for a spot for a date. That was before though, now he was courting an Addams which meant playing by a whole different set of rules.

Wednesday was back the next day from visiting her cousin, and it wouldn't be long after that they would have their first date. There would be another couple of days of letters before a week of gifts. At the end of that week Wednesday would have the choice of whether or not to continue with the courtship. Owen knew that it was also the last point at which Wednesday's guardians could end the courtship, unless he did something unwarranted at a later date.

Even so it was better that he worked out his plans in advance. At least if he knew where he was taking her he could plan her date box. Owen wanted everything to be perfect, he didn't want to give the Addams family any cause to reject his courtship, and had even enlisted Rhys' help in his plans. He had bumped into the man completely by accident one night not long after Ianto and Wednesday had left for Scotland with the other members of their family, and had actually had a good time with the other man.

Rhys was rather a lot like a cross between Ianto and himself and now knowing what he knew about Rhys and his family that didn't surprise him. What really surprised him was that he was with Gwen, or rather that his family hadn't done something to separate them. Owen was under no delusions, he knew that he had to have the family as a wholes approval for his courtship or Wednesday, and for that reason he wondered how Gwen and Rhys' wedding had gone ahead. Gwen was nothing like the rest of the Addams family, in fact she seemed to be the exact opposite of them, something that he had no doubt the family had already noticed.

Rhys had been a great help though, he had told him quite a lot about Wednesday that he hadn't learnt either from her letters or from the time that they had spent together. He knew from Gwen about Kitty Cat, and he was rather weary about that meeting, he had never thought he would have to stare down a lion for approval, but it was clear to him that Kitty Cat's opinion would be considered when he was being discussed by the family. Owen had been assured by Rhys that there would be a family meeting at some point and everyone would get their say, lion included.

The other man had been an invaluable resource to him in the same way that Ianto would have been drafted to help him if he hadn't been in another country. He had talked to him a bit about the family and their expectations, but mostly about Wednesday and the type of things she liked. Owen had even managed to get the man to agree to helping him with the food for the picnic. His next day off, and he was putting in a formal request for one, was going to be spent in Rhys' kitchen, learning from the other man how to prepare Wednesdays' favourite foods.

Owen wandered around the graveyard for a while, lost in his own thoughts before he noticed it, the perfect place to bring Wednesday, how he would describe it in her date box he had no idea, but that was why he had started looking so early, so that he had time to work that out. He snapped a quick picture of the place with his phone intending to ask both Rhys' and Ianto's opinion on the location. He wanted the date to be perfect, he had to show that this was what he wanted and that he wasn't just being led by Wednesday, because he wasn't really. He still felt weird about wanting a sixteen year old, but she was of legal age, and she had had her family's blessing for her to court him. Owen courting her couldn't be too much of a taboo in those circumstances.

Owen headed back to the hub, texting Rhys as he went to find out when he was free for the lesson he had said he would give him, before making his way straight to Jack's office. He was sure that the man would be willing to give him time off, barring the apocalypse of course, as the other man was definitely trying to gain favour with the Addams family at the moment, even if he wasn't showing it. It was obvious to Owen that Jack wanted to be accepted by the family, the family could make or break his relationship with Ianto, and unlike Gwen Jack seemed to recognise the power the family had over their members.

"Jack, can I have Sunday off, it's important." Owen asked, knowing that the other man was unlikely to say no. Owen didn't really ask for time off that often now that he was dead, he didn't really have that much that he could still do that he enjoyed doing so he spent most of his time at the hub working.

Jack looked up from his paperwork, obviously happy for the distraction from the evil papers that he was having to do in Ianto's absence. "What for?" Jack asked the curiosity in his tone apparent, the other man hoping for something interesting to either take his mind off the paperwork or the fact that Ianto was still in Scotland.

"Rhys is going to teach me how to cook some of Wednesday's favourite dishes before our date." Owen spoke quietly, not sure why he was really admitting this to Jack.

He supposed it was because despite being his boss the man was also his friend and had been there for him through a lot. The fact that this was the most serious he had felt for anyone in a long time, probably since Katie may also have had something to do with it.

"Sure." Jack nodded, looking back down at his paperwork before putting his pen down and looking straight at Owen. "Are you okay with everything?" He asked, no mocking or sarcasm in his voice, just pure honest concern. It was nice to hear the man treating him like a friend again, rather than a subordinate.

Owen nodded, then shook his head before finally shrugging his shoulders. "I don't know to be honest. Everything has gone kind of fast, and I don't know what's going to happen in the future, but I am happy at the moment, even like this." He indicated his sorry state, his hand still not completely healed despite what Wednesday had done to it.

Jack nodded seeming to understand exactly what he was saying, "Well, you know where I am if you need to talk."

Owen just nodded at him before leaving the office and going down to his desk. He had the perfect location, Rhys was going to help him with the food, he just had a few more things to sort out then he could start to piece together the date. First though he had to send his daily letter, or rather email to Wednesday. He opened up his email account and began to type, hopefully he could coerce her into a conversation.


	2. Chapter 2

Sunday couldn't come quick enough for Owen, he was really looking forward to spending time with Rhys, the other man being nothing like he had actually thought. The guy was actually pretty cool, and was undoubtedly helpful. He had seen some of the meals at the party he had attended at Ianto's manor and was rather intimidated at the idea of having to cook them but Rhys had promised that what he would teach him would be simple enough to do and that Wednesday would love it. He also wanted the other man's opinion on his choice of venue for their date, he hoped that it wasn't too cliché or anything and Rhys should be able to settle the matter for him.

He arrived at Gwen and Rhys' flat just after nine, having wanted to get an early start, it wasn't as if he got to sleep anymore anyway. Luckily for him Gwen was out and Rhys was awake, already in the kitchen ingredients ready to be turned into delicacies. He dropped his leather jacket onto the back of the chair, and washed his hands before turning to Rhys, an expectant look on his face. "So, what are we making, and what do I need to do?" He spoke plainly, he had already informed the other man that he was definitely not a whiz in the kitchen, but that he was perfectly able to follow directions.

"Some finger food first, just little things, simple enough for a starter or snack." Rhys replied. "A simple salad to start with I think, and then we'll work up from there."

Owen watched as Rhys set out all the ingredients they would need for the salad, some of the leaves Owen was sure were poisonous if not prepared correctly and he almost gulped at the thought of it. He didn't want to poison Wednesday, her family would finish what Copley had started, and despite how he unthreatening he seemed with Micah Owen had no real wish to meet with Death again anytime soon.

Owen helped prepare the salad and was surprised that it wasn't as hard as it had looked, he supposed it was just daunting due to the volatile nature of some of the leaves if prepared wrong. Rhys didn't seem to have had any ill effect from the salad though, and the other man pronounced it to be just right, so he couldn't have been doing badly. He didn't really want to think about what the protein in the salad was, but he knew that he wouldn't have to eat it anyway, not unless he wanted to show Wednesday a side of him that he never really wanted to experience again.

They moved on to the next thing once Rhys had demolished the salad, the man showing him how to make some little bread thing, he wasn't sure exactly what it was, but it smelled amazing, enough to make him wish that he could still eat. They spent the day in the kitchen, Rhys generally just po0inting out ingredients and giving direction, allowing Owen to learn and practice as much as possible. Rhys knew that he wasn't the best teacher for this sort of thing, but he also knew that Owen was unlikely to go to Grandmamma and ask for lessons. He seemed to be doing okay though, and Owen was picking up cooking like an Addams picks up a sword, easily and quickly.

Owen had been rather surprised, he had realised after meeting Rhys the other night that he wasn't that bad of a bloke, in fact he was a rather decent bloke, and didn't deserve to be treated the way Gwen treated him. Or the way he had treated him to be honest, something that he was determined to rectify, even if it meant that it ruined his chances with Wednesday. He had to admit his relationship with Gwen to the other man, and hope that he didn't kill him for it, or hand him over to the family on a silver platter. It was just something that he had to do, he couldn't just carry on the way he had been, especially not if he would end up having to sit across the table from the other man at family events, it would be to awkward to deny the truth in such a situation, it would be much easier to deal with it in advance.

Once they had finished their cooking for the day they had set about cleaning up and storing all the food in the fridge, Rhys would either eat it over the next couple of days or distribute it to the family he would think. "Thank you for this mate." Owen spoke, his thanks evident in his tone. "I, erm, I need to speak to you about something though. You probably won't like it, and you should probably sit down for it."

Rhys looked at him oddly, but took at seat at the table anyway and motioned for him to continue. Owen did, explaining all about his affair with Gwen, expecting the other man to be angry at him or something. What he didn't expect was for the other man to start laughing. That was not the typical reaction when someone found out that their partner had been cheating on them, and Owen was worried that maybe he had sent the man over the edge, god knows he was close to the edge just working with Gwen at times, Rhys had to live with her.

"Rhys, are you okay?" He asked rather tentatively, he didn't want the man to turn around and take a swing at him, he was rather fragile and delicate in his dead state.

"Yeah. Don't worry about it mate." Rhys replied. "I thought you knew I already knew."

"You knew?" Owen exclaimed, wondering how the other man had known, and not done anything about it.

"Yep. Gwen told me. Of course, she then retconned me, but I thought you knew that that doesn't work on my family, something in the compound has no affect on us." Rhys stated.

"Gwen stole retcon. I wonder if Jack and Ianto know." Owen muttered aloud.

"Oh, they know." Rhys confirmed. "I phoned Ianto about it as soon as I woke up from the little nap it put me into. I really wish Harkness had never thought to add a sedative to the compound, it makes you as sluggish as hell."

Owen just stared at the other man, trying to figure what exactly was going on and what side universe he must have fallen into. "Why didn't you do something about it when you found out then? Why just leave it?"

"I couldn't let on I remembered, Gwen would wonder how I broke the retcon and no doubt she'd end up digging into my family. I protected my family, I know that Ianto would have made sure we were safe, him and Archienius, and the accord is there to keep us safe and protected, but you know what Gwen can be like. Besides, it didn't bother me too much, I was more annoyed that she attempted to drug me, and I got revenge for that anyway, so I consider it done with." Rhys confided.

Still rather stumped Owen just looked at the other man before nodding, "Alright then. I need to ask you something as well, I need your opinion on my date."

When Rhys indicated he should carry on Owen began to detail his plans to the other man, who listened attentively, giving feedback and helping him adjust his plans slightly.


	3. Chapter 3

Owen sent his letters diligently to the manor over the next couple of days through Ianto, the other man bringing replies that brought more joy to him than he had thought possible since Katie's death. The day of their date however was different. Instead of just a letter to send he had to send a date box, something that he had been working on for a while now, to give Wednesday clues as to where they were going for their date and what they would be doing. This he decided to deliver in person as he wanted to leave for their date almost straight away.

He had driven to the ceremony and set everything up necessary for the date so that he could just lead Wednesday there when he picked her up. Andy had been kind enough to stand guard over his preparations to stop anyone from ruining this for them. He had then driven to the manor, grabbing the date box from the passenger seat as he arrived. He walked up to the door, ringing the doorbell and waiting for Lurch to appear as he knew that the other man would. He handed the box off to the man as he was led into a small reception room. He would wait there while Lurch took the box to Wednesday and she would join him there when she was ready to leave, or so Ianto had told him anyway when he had questioned the protocol of delivery the date box himself.

Normally it would have been sent through Ianto or someone else, but as he wanted the date to follow the delivery it was much more sensible for him to bring the box himself. Now he just hoped that she liked it. The box was meant to be both a gift and a clue to the date and he hoped that he had done well, but he supposed only time would tell. The box only had a few things in it really, a chequered black and grey shawl to show that they would be outside and that she should dress warmly, the chequered print also a clue towards a picnic. The picnic angle was also shown by the small black wicker picnic basket filled with cookies, he had a larger black picnic basket set up in the graveyard with more filling food. There was also a small miniature graveyard ornament that he had looked for, he had hoped that he would find something like it, but hadn't held out much hope, Cardiff however seemed to have a lot more weird and wonderful places than he had known about. The last thing in the box was a picture of the tree that he had laid the blanket under, the tree that they had stopped under to talk when they had left the hub that day all those weeks ago.

As he waited in that reception room he wondered how his gift was accepted, and what the family thought of his gift, because there was no way that they would not take an interest. He was almost one hundred percent sure that this gift would be take into account in their judging of him, because they would be judging him to make sure he was good enough for their little girl.

It was surprising to him how nervous he was, but then again he hadn't really tried to do the dating thing since Katie and he had never undertaken a formal courtship. In saying that though this courtship seemed to be moving at a much faster pace than what he would have thought, but he supposed that he didn't really mind that much as long as it didn't make him look bad to Wednesday's family.

Ianto had assured him in confidence that the family did like him, he couldn't really say much as a decision on his status with the family had to come from the matriarch Ianto had informed him, but he had mentioned it to stop him from being so nervous. It hadn't worked exactly, he was still nervous, really nervous; in fact if he was alive he was pretty sure that he would be sweating. At least that was one good thing about being dead, no body odour other than decomposition - which didn't seem to be occurring, something else that he was glad off.

Wednesday entered the room not long after he had arrived, maybe half an hour later, with Lurch following behind her, her elected chaperone most likely. She was dressed completely in black, the black and grey chequered shawl held in her hands and held out to him to place around her shoulders. He did so, securing it with a clasp that he had kept out of her box, a gift that he was sure she would enjoy. taking it out of its small box he gathered both sides of the shawl, holding them together as he clasped him into the tarantula clasp he had found for her.

At the sight of the clasp she a had let a small half smile half smirk land on her face fleetingly before it disappeared and she was leading him out of the manor to where he had parked his car. He drove to the graveyard, Lurch in the front passenger seat and Wednesday sat in the back staring out of the window, absently touching her clasp and smirking.

Owen was hopeful that she was thinking about him, probably about how she had managed to catch him against his will and turn him to her way of thinking. But he had never really been unwilling, just rather cautious. Okay, so maybe more than a little cautious, but he knew what Ianto was capable off, he didn't want to take on the whole family.

When they reached the area that he had decided to park the car in he killed the engine before getting out of the car, Lurch doing the same, and he then opened the door for Wednesday, helping her out of the car and closing the door behind her. He then locked the car and offered her his arm to hold as he directed her towards the graveyard and the waiting picnic. It was a short walk, and Andy was stood just off to the side of the blanket, having not wanted to ruin anything.

Owen greeted Andy thanking him for standing sentry something that made Wednesday snort a bit. He didn't know why though and the look Andy threw him promised him a lot of pain if he even thought about asking. He led Wednesday to the blanket helping her sit herself down against the tree before inviting both Andy and Lurch to join them. He then began to unpack the large picnic basket, revealing a small selection of some of the Addams families' favourite delicacies.

Owen sat down next to Wednesday couldn't stop the smile from spreading across his face as he realised that not only Wednesday, but the other two seemed to be enjoying his cooking as well. It meant that he had done it right, if it was only one person enjoying it he may have felt as though they were trying to spare his feelings a bit, but then he realised who he was with and what he knew of their family. Sparing someone's feelings were not high on their priorities really, the only one that seemed to even attempt it was Ianto, and that was only when dealing with victims, their families or tourists with bad fashion sense, he had a feeling it might have been a result of some weird training given to him by Torchwood London though and not due to any inborn trait.


	4. Chapter 4

The date itself was fine, in fact it had been amazing. Owen had been sure that he would have been either more nervous or concerned about the fact that he had chaperones, but Lurch wasn't much of a talker and Andy seemed to be lost in his own little world for the most part. He and Wednesday had had a good time, he got to know more about her and more about what she wanted from life other than him. While it had been weird to sit and watch people eat again he hadn't minded as much as he did when he was in the hub. They ate, but it was much more social than just eating, they spoke and joked and made fun of others, whereas in the hub they ate, sometimes spoke about work or they just ate and listened to Gwen, not really an enjoyable experience.

They had sat and spoken for hours until it began to grow dark at which point they stood packed up the picnic things and went for a walk through graveyard arm in arm. Andy and Lurch trailing silently behind them, close enough to still chaperone them, but not close enough to hear their conversation. When they got back to the car they drove first to the manor as was proper to return the Lady back to her home first before dropping off the chaperones. Lurch and Wednesday had gone into the manor, but not before Owen had made arrangement for him and Wednesday to meet up again the following Friday. He then retreated back to the car where Andy was now seated in the front passenger seat, driving him back to his flat before returning to the hub to take the nightshift.

They spent the following week conversing through emails and the occasional phone call as Owen was much busier with work, with them being one person down. Not that Gwen really was much use in many things, but an extra body in the field was always handy, even if it was one that was forever putting other members of the team in danger. Owen by time Friday rolled around couldn't wait for his date, he was a bit disappointed that it was also the day that Gwen returned, but he wasn't going to allow her to dampen his mood. The rest of the team had been really happy for him and were rather encouraging of his relationship, something that meant a lot to him. Gwen on the other hand, well Owen could sense her dislike for Wednesday a mile off and he wasn't going to allow her to ruin anything for him.

Their second date was more mainstream than their last date and Owen hoped that Wednesday still had a good time. He had intended to plan something out extra special, but with work he really hadn't had the time so he had to fall back on what he classed as his back up plan. One of the smaller independent cinemas were doing a month of horror movies, with two or three different film screenings a night. Owen was hoping that Wednesday wouldn't mind such a run of the mill date and that the films would amuse her.

Owen picked up Wednesday and her parents who were chaperoning this time, driving them all to the cinema. More nervous about this date than their first, as he had that as a standard and this wasn't really the ideal second date than he imagined, he wanted to make sure that everything ran smoothly. He had made small talk with both Wednesday and her parents in the car, talking over the normal sort of everyday things, the weather, gruesome murders reported in the paper and a little bit about his day.

He had opened the car door for Wednesday before escorting her into the cinema and to a seat after paying for their tickets. He was surprised to note that Morticia and Gomez did not sit with them, but rather sat a good few rows behind them. When he mentioned this to Wednesday she just smirked at him.

"Mother and Father know that if I wished to inflict pleasured pain on you that I would do it, chaperone or not. They trust me, they are only here to keep up appearances, after all you requested chaperones." Wednesday said in a monotone voice.

Owen just gaped, he wasn't sure what it was about this family, but they all seemed to be able to keep him off kilter, something that he wasn't exactly used to. Instead of pushing the conversation further he settled down to watch the film, commenting about the lack of plot, the flatness of the characters and the lack of horror. His comments were all well received and Wednesday seemed happy enough with how the date seemed to be going.

It wasn't until the film ended that the young woman sat next to him startled him more than he had been shocked in a while. She had turned to him and if he wasn't already dead he was sure that his heart would have stopped at her words. "I believe that we should end our courtship Owen."

When he started to protest, or at least ask for an explanation she put her hand over his mouth, "This has gone on too long already. I shall inform Grandmamma that you will be at the manor tomorrow to meet with her. After all it is with her that you will need to negotiate with for my hand in marriage. She will expect you for 2pm."

She did not allow him to speak, standing once she finished speaking and making her way to where her parents were sat she indicated that they should follow her and she swept out of the cinema. He followed them out, but the three of them were nowhere to be seen. Making his way back to his car he was startled out of his thoughts when his phone rang. Answering it without looking at the caller he was surprised to hear Ianto's voice on the other end of the phone.

"You have a meeting with Grandmamma at two o'clock Owen, don't mess it up or Wednesday will kill you properly." His friend spoke before he hung up, leaving Owen to stare at his phone in shock.


	5. Chapter 5

Owen stared at the imposing manor in front of him, he had been there before, but it had never seemed as imposing as it did now. He supposed that it was due to the nature of his visit, he had never come to the manor before for a one on one meeting with the matriarch and never about anything as important as this.

Grandmamma Addams was someone that he had only spoken to twice, both while being part of a large group, he had never really spoken to her on his own before. He was nervous, but at the same time though he knew what he wanted and he knew that he was what Wednesday wanted, all he had to do was convince the matriarch of the Addams family to allow him to marry her granddaughter.

Ringing the doorbell he stood back waiting for Lurch to allow him entry and was surprised when instead of the large butler Ianto's sister opened the door. She greeted him with a half-smile half smirk and led him into the manor. She steered him through the lounge where the majority of the family seemed to have congregated, including Rhys, Andy and Ianto, the latter of which should not have been able to get there before him as he had left him in the hub with Jack.

She then led him out of the room and up some stairs and stopping in front of a solid wooden door, she indicated the door with her head, "Grandmamma is waiting for you, best not keep her waiting long." Rhiannon spoke softly before she vanished down the stairs.

Owen stared at the door for a long moment before knocking purposely, waiting for a response to enter. Pushing the door open he made his way into the room, ignoring everything but the woman in the room and the seat opposite her that he seated himself in.

"You wished to speak to me, Owen Harper." She spoke, her voice both eerie and comforting at the same time.

"Yes, Mrs. Addams." Owen started, gathering his wits about him before he continued to speak. "I am here to gain your permission to marry your granddaughter Wednesday Friday Addams."


End file.
